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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Place of Worship - Moorea

A short ferry ride from the main island of Tahiti is the small, resort island of Moorea.This is truly the tropical paradise of your dreams....well, at least my dreams. We could have driven around the entire island in 40 minutes if I hadn't stopped around every bend to take photos. The water is a clear, beautiful shade of turquoise, and washes over a reef to meet white sand beaches, then within yards, rises up to spectacularly lush and craggy cliffs. There are relatively few people on the island and only a few well appointed resorts. One can walk on deserted white sand beaches, but still find restaurants and tourist activities. More of beautiful Moorea tomorrow.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

This is a glimpse of the ocean side of the coastal road, with views of crystal clear waters and jagged volcanic peaks. Much of Tahiti is unspoiled and pristine. Surprisingly, there are not many hotels or resorts on the main island, so it is not overrun with tourists.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Tahiti is shaped like the number 8. There is only one main road that circles one loop of the '8' along the coast. Here is a glimpse of the scenery I saw on the inland side. It doesn't get more tropical or more beautiful than this!

Monday, March 26, 2012

This is the beautiful temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tahiti.

I am a frustrated photographer, still. I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again. We have had so many adventures and I've been so busy that I'm way behind in sharing with you a glimpse of where we've been and what we are doing. For example, we've just arrived back in NZ from eight days in Samoa. Yes, you read that correctly. We've just returned from Samoa and I've posted a photo from Tahiti! We were in Tahiti about a month and a half ago and this is the first photo from that beautiful paradise that I've shared with you. I decided I can't post photos from Samoa, until I post some from Tahiti. So here I go. If you've never been to Tahiti and would like a glimpse of what I saw, stay tuned because for the next week or so I will take you on a tour of one of the most beautiful places in the world. (Then I'll show you Samoa, another one of the most beautiful places in the world!!!!!)

Saturday, March 24, 2012

As we strolled along the Auckland Harbor one night we saw this beautiful, sleek yacht anchored. It was VERY expensive looking and I thought this would make a nice photo with the interesting roof of the building as a backdrop. I don't think The Auckland Tourist Bureau would mind this photo as an advertisement. But what a difference from the view 45 degrees to the right..........

I'm standing at the same location, and this is the view just a few degrees to the right of the yacht. I loved the contrast.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

The trouble with landscape photography is that you have to deal with the darn weather! In the previous post, it was raining hard, and because the river was flooded, the waterfall was muddy. When we were there this time, the sky was clear but it was very windy and cold. I set a slow shutter speed to 'veil' the water, but because it was windy, the moving foliage was blurred as well. You just have to compromise sometimes and do the best you can with what 'mother nature' gives you.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

There had been much rain during the previous weeks, and as we drove to these falls we followed a river that was overflowing its banks. We parked the car and started down the path leading to the falls which ran right next to the river. It was raining still, and part of the path was flooded. As we continued to walk the river continued to grow in size, the rain increased, and the path looked like it could flood or wash away at any minute. By the time we made it to this location, I was too nervous to take much time composing a shot. I set up my tripod, and while Jeff was saying "Hurry up, we've got to get out of here," I snapped about 3 shots, then we ran back to the car so as not to get stranded. Since then we've been back to these falls and tomorrow I'll post a photo from the same location but not taken in such bad weather conditions.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Can you see Jeff taking a stroll on this beautiful deserted beach? It is amazing to us that around almost every bend along the coasts of NZ are spectacularly beautiful, pristine beaches, and most of them are deserted! This is truly an unspoiled paradise. I'm used to the beaches of Southern California where you are competing with thousands of other people to find a square of sand to have a picnic or relax in the sun.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

I don't know about where you live, but it's been a long time since I've seen a free standing phone booth. We see them every once in a while here in NZ. This fine looking specimen, (phone booth including occupant), is in downtown Dunedin.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

I keep getting this email:(From) Anonymous (Subject) [What Karen Sees] New comment on.........(then the name of a post)

The 'Address' line shows:Anonymous < no reply-comment@blogger.com >

The actual email message says:Anonymous has left a new comment on your post........(then the name of a post)Below that are numerous links to other websites.

The interesting thing, is there is no actual comment on my blog so I can't delete it there.

I read about how to block junk mail on my email program (I use Entourage on a MAC), and it instructs me to add the sender's email address to a blocked email list. The problem is, it said that the domain (the part of the address after the @) would be blocked. Since the part after the @ is @blogger.com, that would then block emails from all my friends that use blogger.

I have no idea how to solve this. I'm getting more and more emails from Anonymous every day, now about 10 a day. If anyone can help me get rid of this I'd be so grateful. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Larnach CastleThis is the only castle in New Zealand. William Larnach was a successful banker, financier, merchant baron, landowner and minister of the Crown. He built the castle for his beloved first wife. The lives of the Larnach family were exciting, scandalous and tragic. Two wives later, William ended his amazing career and life with a gunshot to the head as he sat alone in a committee room in Parliament.

We were not allowed to take photos inside, so I had to be satisfied with photographing the outside of the castle with various compositions. Here they are:

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

There are many wonderful old churches in the town of Dunedin, as well as other beautiful old buildings. I second Diane's comment in my last post that I hope Dunedin never has devastating earthquakes like its neighbor to the north, Christchurch.

Monday, March 12, 2012

We were told this is the most photographed building in New Zealand. Dunedin, a beautiful city on the south island, is graced with many stately old buildings and impressive old cathedrals.

Part of the challenge of photographing buildings in a city is to find a composition that doesn't include distractions like wires, street signs, cars, etc. I had to stand in the middle of a busy intersection to get this shot without including a bunch of street signs which were just out of the frame on the right. Since there was no way I could get the shot without including the stop signal, I placed it so it would blend in with the solid gray bricks to be less noticeable.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

The Boat Shed

We often see colorful little boat sheds nestled near the shores of the many lakes, bays and harbors here in New Zealand. This one caught my eye because it was so bright and looked like it had just received a brand new coat of paint. I don't know if it was the time of day combined with the angle of light, but the colors were so vibrant SOOTC, that I actually desaturated when I edited, and it still looks unnaturally intense.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

A few Saturdays ago we took our third drive along the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula (where I took the photos from the last post). Toward the end of the day we wanted to find some waterfalls that several people had told us were very photogenic. We searched and searched, and drove right past several times, but finally found them. They were just a few yards off the road, but hidden by foliage. By the time I was ready to take photos it was already twilight and quite dark. As long as I have my tripod, this is my favorite time to photograph waterfalls. There is still some soft light, but it's dark enough to set a slow shutter speed to create silky soft water. I agree with the people who told me these falls are very photogenic. What do you think?

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

We have been so busy this past month with missionary work and travel, that I've been a very poor blogger. We've had some amazing spiritual experiences and some fun experiences while our two sons and their wives were visiting. This month we've been to Tahiti (on missionary work), and Queenstown three times, both for missionary work and pleasure. I have so many photos to sort, edit, save, delete, post, that it will probably take me years! We don't have any traveling scheduled for the next month so I'll try to catch up and post something daily. Just to warn you, however, that my posts for the foreseeable future will be random and in no particular order of time, place, or subject. I just want you to see some of the wonderful and interesting sights I have seen during the first part of this year, so my goal is to just get them up. So here we go........

Cheerful Colors, Sad Face

A few weeks ago, on a Saturday, Jeff FINALLY found a car show. (He really had fun talking cars when our sons were here as I'm less than adequate in that department.) Anyway, while he walks around looking at cars, I usually observe the people and photograph those that interest me.

I've posted photos of the Maori people with their distinctive tattoos on body and face, but tattooing in general, is big time here in NZ. I think I see almost as many women with tattoos as men, not just cute little flowers on the ankle, but elaborate body designs. It is a bit sad to me. I am always drawn to stare at these elaborate tattoos, especially on women, and it dawned on me that I rarely ever look at their faces. When I do look, as an afterthought, they are often beautiful young women, but I usually never notice that because I'm so curious to discover what they feel is so important to them that they have chosen to spend the time, money, and pain to have it permanently embedded on their bodies.

I thought this young woman was particularly interesting because despite her bright and colorful clothes, make up, (and tattoos), she seemed quite sad in her expression and demeanor. I'm certainly not implying this was because of the tattoos, I just thought it was an interesting contrast.

Sexy??????

I was sitting in the shade fairly close to this purple car with this license plate, and this woman walked past. Do you think her tattoos make her more sexy looking???

WELCOME FAMILY, FRIENDS & FELLOW PHOTOGRAPHY LOVERS!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.....and I would add that pictures help us tell stories that will turn into a lifetime of memories. Pictures take us back in time to a special place, event, or help us recall a mood, a feeling, and special times with people we cherish. If you are a fellow PHOTOGRAPHY LOVER, (and aren't we all), I'd love to see what you see, and if you'd like to see more of what I see, CLICK ON MY AVATAR BUTTON TO GO TO MY WEBSITE.

And I quote:

"Photography is an art of observation. It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them."---Elliott Erwitt

"To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes, pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them." ---Anguste Renoir,19th Century Impressionist

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BACK OFF I'M A PHOTOGRAPHER.... no wait, stay right there, now turn a little leftturn your face toward the sun, tilt your chin down, a little more, a little more, now up, okay, just hold that position,the light should be perfect,in just a couple minutes!